12 Tags of 2014 December Tag

It's hard to believe this is the last tag of 2014 ! It has been an amazing journey... so many interesting rewarding stops along the way. Tim has certain inspired us ( or at least me) to new heights. As I look back over each one of the tags, I marvel at how I was able to "push" beyond the frustration barriers and create something I was very proud of . My pride is not so much in the finished project as much as it is in my growth.
Well enough of my babble...
Tag number 12 not unlike the other 11 ... blew me away ! I oohed and aahed I think every step of the way. I think my favorite part was the background. Watching the distress stain spray and metallic interact with the simple spritz of water while drying ... OMG ... magic right before my eyes ( had to call my husband in to check it out ).  Here are samples of my backgrounds ( I made two ... one is part of a card I'm making ). I did not have the Christmas Nostalgia Stamp so I used the small stars from my Merry Christmas Framelit set  ( I wasn't happy about not having the set but I'm adjusting) ... it's on my list ... it really is a cool stamp set... besides I'm just obsessed with using what Tim uses ... don't judge me ... I TOLD YOU I'm a Tim-A-Holic !   :)

I so love my Tim toys... I had everything else ... well almost . Cool technique with tea diffuser ( you know I went to thrift store and a few other places looking for one like that I LOVE IT ... I have the mesh one ... not bad !

Oh the Thinlits... OMG Genius ! Tim gave us a tip at the stamp show about using wax paper ... it works like a charm. The verdict is still out on my Holiday greenery die ... one of those pieces just wasn't co-operating ... takes skill ... I'm working on it I won't be defeated!  The stitching ... great touch... another fabulous tag ... Thank you Tim !

CC3 Challenge # 17

Oh my where did my time go? It has been a busy week ... rehearsals, birthday  party, memorial service and doctor appointment ( urgent appointment ... yuk ) ! Okay so I've got 14 hours. and 20 minutes  to pull this off ... I thought of not participating BUT ... I worked too hard not to !
We are at Challenge 17 ... I'm hanging in there ... how 'bout you ?
OMG ... Linda and the Curiosity Crew went Christmas ... have you seen their projects ???
Oh my BAAD... first things first... Our wonderful hostess Linda Ledbetter over at http://lindaledbetter.com/2014/12/compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-17.html and that fabulous Curiosity Crew have a treat for you.  Now if you have not joined us by now it's not too late ... Linda still has the rules/guidelines posted for your viewing pleasure. Tim Holtz's book  A compendium of Curiosities Volume III is our guide. Now I gotta tell you even if you don't participate THIS is the book to have to check out ALL those amazing techniques ... great reference book! The very personable Tim himself will autography your book too if you go to http://timholtz.com/a-compendium-of-curiosities-volume-iii/.  Our sponsors this week are my friends at http://www.inspirationemporium.com/ ; should you be the lucky winner you get a $50 gift certificate to their online store ... how cool is that ?!  Psst ... by the way when you go to check out their store ... go check out their blog... talk about inspiration for some amazing gifts !!
The Curiosity Crew has Curiosity Crew Choice Award and Honorable Mention ... so umm if you participate you have a chance to win ! Those goodies from Tim and Mario are the best ... Thank you again Linda, Curiosity Crew, Tim and Mario my package came Monday ... I'm still grinning !!
Okay so to be eligible you gotta go check out the blogs of the Curiosity Crew ( you'll want to do that  anyway) ; show them some love while you are there okay ?!
Now to Challenge 17 it's  Woodland and Tinsel Twine p. 60 ... OMG you are gonna love this singing ..." It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... "
I so love this ... I chose a vintage look my friend Paula Cheney had a tutorial last week on colorizing pearls ... it was the boom ! I don't want to get into trouble... Soooooooooo I'll just say I had loads of fun. I did not have all the supplies I thought I had so I went with what I had... so pleased with the results.

Sure hope you can see my details... THIS WAS A CHALLENGE ! Not feeling well and antibiotics kicked in while I was working... talk about stressing :) . Anyway I have share photos ( photographer I am not ... especially not right now. I chose to do this ... so I must complete it ... I will not be defeated.
I so enjoyed the process. I'm so thankful I have Tim's other two compendiums ; I had to consult it ... I could not remember how to do the tissue tape on my configuration ( don't know if it was the meds or forgetfulness... hahaha ) ... ANYWAY I had the resources !
Happy Friday !

P.S. In my haste to get this posted I forgot to share with you what I used... I used  Tim Holtz  Merriment Paper Stash , Merriment Tissue Tape and a 6.75" x 8.75" Configurations.
Ideology  ring fastener,  baubles, Christmas muse token, mirrored stars, corners, curio knob , Christmas word band and Christmas tidings tokens. Oh and of course woodland tree !
Okay ... I'm off to clean up so cats don't get my stuff ... then off to bed ... antibiotic is messin' with me :(  ... See You later !

CC3 Challenge # 16

Is it just me ... or are you feeling it too ... time is flying by ... it's December already !!
How was your Thanksgiving? Hope you had a Blessed one. Well time to get in gear for Christmas... are you getting in the spirit ? Well if not maybe a peak at what Linda and the Curiosity Crew has in store might help you! I tell you those ladies are so talented... and the versatility is amazing ( something for everybody).
Speaking of everybody... did you join in the fun yet? Okay we are at Challenge # 16... come on you can do it... visit Linda Ledbetter 
http://lindaledbetter.com/2014/11/compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-16.html ., she's got complete easy to follow guidelines ; a link to the amazing Tim Holtz so you can purchase his book  A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III ... don't forget you can get it autographed too . Now if you have yours already but you want some company on this amazing journey gift a copy to one of your friends; invite them to join you. Tell them Tim and Mario have goodies ... should you be the Curiosity Crew's Choice Award Recipient ... if that does not get them tell them our sponsors this week are  The Funkie Junkie  Boutique  http://www.thefunkiejunkie.com/  , they could win a $25 shopping spree. Now they will probably tell you they wouldn't know what to create or where to start ... not a problem ... tell them while they are at Linda's site they can see projects  done by the Curiosity Crew ... it's fabulous inspiration ! All they have to do is visit each one's blog; show them some love ( so easy to do... cause they will want to tell them how awesome their projects are) and then they'll be eligible for prizes. Can't get any easier than that !
Okay ... so while you brush up on your recruitment skills I'll share my project...
This week is Challenge # 16  Layering Stencil Embossing found on p.50
OMG... this is so amazing... I don't want to get in trouble ... let me just say the technique is so easy and the results are amazing ...

The above photo is of my other  new Tim toys, I used Christmas framelit, , labels thinlit ,  and handwritten Christmas Stamps .

I used  the Holiday Knit and the Speckles  stencils and some of my other new Tim toys . I'm showing you the above photo so you can see my background. I used worn lipstick, fired brick and barn door distressing inks. I just love this color palette.

This photo is showing the other elements of my tag. I had so much fun using the stencils with texture paste and foil sheets ... way cool !!! You'll have to look close at the finished tag to see the details ... OMG ... with the help of Tim toys I worked some magic !

Well I've probably told you to much ( hope not ... I couldn't help it) ... but I do hope you enjoyed it.
Have I  convinced you yet ?? Come on join us...
Alright ... don't forget to visit the Curiosity Crews blogs, let them know you enjoy their work ! I'm going back to play...

Oh, Thank you again Linda and Curiosity Crew for choosing me for  the Curiosity Crew's Choice Award for Challenge # 15 . I am HONORED !!!

It's Advent Season !

Speaking of Holidays ... have you seen Somerset Holidays & Celebrations ? OMG I love Somerset and every now and then I buy a copy. There are so many great ideas and so much inspiration... it just takes me to my Happy Place ! Vanessa Spencer created this adorable Advent Calendar; it's called an Out-of-the ordinary ( Somerset Holidays & Celebrations p. 26 ) .  As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make one.
Last year I purchased some stickers from Simples Stories from a 25 Days Christmas Collect with the intent to create an advent box I was waiting for the place where I ordered to get more papers so I could order them... well long story short that collection was discontinued. So when I saw Vanessa's calendar these stickers came to mind immediately ... yay I found something to do with these number stickers !

I just love the colors of these stickers and figured I could create a cute calendar too ! It took me a month almost ( doing several other projects in between)  to plan out my calendar. A few days ago I started my count down to my 65th Birthday and my goal everyday is to create something and/or complete a UFO everyday for the next 65 days ! What better thing to complete than an advent calendar! I used Vanessa's Calendar as my springboard. What a project it turned out to be ... I almost gave up ! I had trouble trying to find some items I wanted. I ended up masking the coin envelopes because I could not find them in white. Finding buckets the size I wanted was difficult as well but I created a way to include the buckets on tags with the numbers on the tag.

It was a little frustrating in that my cats thought it was a play toy and that I was playing with them as I attempted to attach the various components. I am  happy to say they all survived and the calendar is completed in time for advent season !

All Is Calm All Is Bright

Getting in the Holiday Spirit ... I'm clearing off my work area preparing for another project and I decided to make this cute tag with leftovers from various other projects. I watched Dyan Reaveley do a demo one time and she showed how she uses excess ink on her mat to make backgrounds for future tags so I've started "mopping  up " my excess /leftover ink on my mat with tags and setting them aside.
This tag was created from leftover distress stain sprays from two different projects creating  interesting layers.  It's so fun to do this and see what it looks like when it's done.

 I used the adorable movers and shapers mini reindeer & 25 set ; tattered pinecone,  festive greenery die and the label from Tim's new labels die. I added rock candy stickles to the edges of the pine cone along with snow cap distress paint, I also added stickles and snow cap paint to the light green leaves. The greenery was cut from kraft core ( love that kraft core) .  My background was created swiping a tag through leftover distress paints ( evergreen bough, tumbled glass, forest moss, antique linen and rusty hinge) for the first layer and leftover walnut stain and tarnished brass distress stain spray for the second layer. The label is Tim's thinlits labels die stamped with the mini handwritten holidays stamps.
Who knew clean up could be so fun !!

12 Tags of 2014 November Tag

WOW... where did November go ... it's the 30th ALREADY ! Well ... I'm last minute AGAIN! My die did not come ( you know how I like using what Tim used) I don't have any of the new die texture fade combo sets yet . Surprisingly I could not find it locally. I used my gift certificate to purchase the leaf die but they were on "reserve until 20th of November ( so I really thought it would be here :(
I thought of not doing the tag until my die arrived but the thought of being left out killed me.
So I had a Plan B ... so I thought ... Plan B did not work so well. I had wanted to use the bell die but I could not figure out how to position it on the die so that I could cut just the bell  "negative" without breaking my frame ... oh well some of us can't walk and chew bubble gum LOL !!

ANYWAY I attempted a couple of things to  make a tag using these techniques. I played around until I found one of my dies that could "stand alone" going through the big shot.  I  chose  the gentleman from the Victorian Carolers ; my background is  Sheet Music Texture fade. This was a fun process trying to position the sheet music so that I captured parts that could be distinguished.
I did not want to completely change my color palette as I had everything all laid out. So I chose evergreen bough, tumbled glass, broken china, forest moss, rusty hinge,  and antique linen.
Interesting colors for caroler don't you think !

I was getting more and more frustrated along the way until I added the foil ... OMG ... this is so amazing... and so easy !

The Distress stain spray such a cool touch( once you get  the hang of the use) . I remembered all the things Tim had said while he was demoing with it at the Carson Stamp show ... in my mind I pretended I was him doing it ... LOL ... little more practice needed here :)

So I won't be left out ... I do hope you enjoyed my tag ... I certainly enjoyed it ( the techniques were awesome ! See you next time ! Thanks for visiting !

CC3 Challenge # 15

Hi everybody ! Can you believe it's November  13th already? I hope you remembered to Thank a Veteran this past week ( actually Everyday is a good day to thank a Veteran).
Well Linda Ledbetter over at  http://lindaledbetter.com/2014/11/compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-15.html and the fabulous Curiosity Crew has graced us with another wonderful Challenge.
We are at Challenge # 15 but it is not too late for you to join us. Tim's wonderful book Compendium of Curiosities Volume III is still available ( yep ... you can still get it autographed too ) . Go visit Linda's site check out the rules and the  guidelines ; there aren't many, but you will want to follow them to be eligible for some awesome prizes.
 Speaking of prizes my friend Joy and her family over at  http://www.inspirationemporium.com/ are our sponsors this week, they are offering a $50  gift certificate to their store for some lucky winner ... fifty dollars ... that's awesome... you know what you could do with that ?  Yep buy more Tim stash !
The Curiosity Crew has a Curiosity Crew Choice Award... sounds prestigious doesn't it ? It's awesome they showed a photo of the hand picked goodies from Tim and Mario + a surprise TREAT!!
You know you want to get in on that action...
While you are checking out your guidelines check out the Crews work... they've got some amazing projects for inspiration to help get you started. Go visit each one of their blogs so you can see some amazing details. If you show them some love while you are there you'll be eligible for the goodies and surprise... so easy ... get started !!
This weeks challenge ... Challenge # 15  Cabinet Card Pocket is found on page 38 in your book.
Omg ... this is fun !
I chose Tim's Found Relatives as my spring board ... I love these ... just so much fun!

I used my Wallflower Paper ( both the regular and the Vellum) ... I so love that collection; Thrift shop Ephemera (regular and vellum) ;Remnant Rubs Life Quotes, Botanical, Numbers,  and Elements... LOL I love remnant rubs too; and I used Industrious Stickers and tissue tape. Oh I got so excited I forgot to tell you I used baubles, adornment arrows,  mirrored stars, heart charms, word band, gem clip ,wire pin , linen ribbon and crinkle ribbon and my cabinet card.
One of the things I LOVE about the challenges is that I USE my TIM STASH !!
I used vintage photo to distress my cabinet card, I attached my photo to a piece of wallflower paper  and embellished it by adding various vellum ephemera, using the remnant rubs I embellished some of those pieces. I colorized my word band and the arrow using bundled sage distress paint.

I distressed my tag using  antique linen, old paper, vintage photo and crushed olive distressing ink. I layered it with a piece of vellum cut from wallflower paper and added sentiment from my Words For Thought Stamp set, trimmed it with industrial sticker borders and corner... added some additional verb age using the remnant rubs, and then  attached a ticket  using my tiny attacher.
I added crinkle ribbon that I colorized using barn door, picked raspberry and Victorian velvet distress stains.

I so hope you enjoyed my cabinet card pocket as much as I did . Better yet go do one, you've got plenty of time ! Don't forget to show the crew some love ! See you again soon :)

Veterans Day Thank You

Just wanted to take the time to say " Thank You "  to the many men and women who have served and are serving our Country  and Keeping us safe.  God Bless you for your service, courage and dedication to our country; and for serving when and where needed... defending our freedom. We appreciate each and every one of you ... Happy Veterans Day !

My card was created using a prayer from ( A Prayer for Veterans; card from American Greetings... a card I gave to my uncle some years ago) as my background. I stamped over it using USA stamp from my Tim Holtz Americana Blueprint CMS 145 set ; I colored the USA using my barn door, picket fence and faded jeans distress markers and detail paint pen. I mounted it on the fabulous coredinations papers scarlet and klondike blue ( by Tim of course). Absolutely love these papers I sanded them with my sanding block to give a vintage look. I punched out stars using my Marvy Uchida punches stacked them and added bling !

 

CC3 Challenge # 14

Happy Halloween !  It's CC3 Challenge #14 I'm hangin' in there how about you? Did you see the gorgeous pumpkin our fabulous host Linda Ledbetter made ?  OMG ... you MUST check it out ... go over to her site   http://lindaledbetter.com/2014/10/compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-14.html , while you are there check her guidelines and rules for these challenges; they aren't difficult. The challenges are amazing ( I know I say that all the time), but they really are ! Tim's book Compendium of Curiosities III is a must have... it's one of the best reference books in my craft library ( I own all three of his books... they are autographed too) ! You could get one too ... it would be a great Christmas present for yourself ... but you will need to get it early so you can participate in the challenges. Let's see oh ... the fabulous sponsors this challenge are  The Funkie Junkie Boutique
http://www.thefunkiejunkie.com/ ... you should see the product they have there ... OMG ! If you are the lucky winner you get a $25 shopping spree ... oh what I could do with that !
The Curiosity Crew was on their J-O-B once again, they have got some fabulous projects to inspire you , their creativity is over the top awesome; so much inspiration ( if you are stuck for ideas check them out) ! What's also cool is that they have a  Curiosity Crew Choice Award ( how prestigious is that ?!) ; goodies sent from Tim and Mario ( check out that photo of what's in the goodie box... drooling material there for sure) !! To be eligible for that you'll need to visit each one of the Curiosity Crews blogs and show them some love ... so easy to do !!
Oh and speaking of drooling ... Tim and Mario are going to be at the Carson Stamp Show Sunday Nov. 9th ... if you have never met these two gorgeous guys (personality plus!!) here's your chance!!
It's definitely a TREAT!
Now here's the TRICK...  This CC3 Challenge #14 is  Colored Crackle p. 53 in your book ( I told you , you NEED your book) ! I can't give you instructions or details !!
Oh my ...  I can taunt you though  ...  this is so fun so magical... you are gonna love it!
I decided to do two projects ( okay maybe only one ... I lost one before I finished it)... I'm sharing with you a card I made using the technique! You'll have to look close to see it.

 

Oh I had fun with my card the music sheet is wrapped in cobb webs created from a used dryer sheet; toughed, and distressed with black soot distressing ink and highlighted with an orange mini clothes pin. I used Tim's Industirous Stickers to create a frame around my master piece ( I like how it came out...  ergo Master Piece)! I had the caldron punch... I just thought it would be a perfect whimsical touch with the bling ... a girl gotta have her bling you know ! Look close you can see my technique.

 

 

 

Well I don't wanna get in trouble so I won't tell you any more... except that you gotta try this !
Enjoy... don't forget to go share some love with the crew see you next time or later... I'm gonna go recheck the rules to see if I can share another project Bye for now !

Trick or Treat !

As promised here's a treat for you ! I had some fun making a variety of ATC Cards. It's been a while since I made any and I wanted to use some of my older supplies and have some fun !


First set are done with distressing inks; wild honey, seedless preserves, crushed olive, spiced marmalade and mustard seed; layering stencils ; speckles, burlap ,harlequin ,doily, gothic  , shatter , honeycomb and  schoolhouse stencils , and misc. Halloween stamps from the good ole dollar bin at Michael's ( yes, I got these when they were Still a dollar). Each card was stamped with archival black ink and the edges were distressed with black soot distressing ink.

The  second set of ATC are done on canvas ATC Cards using the same stamps , same stencils and same colors. Isn't it interesting how different they look on different textures ? The colors appear to be muted. This was so fun !

For the third set of ATC's I used some of the same stamps on torn paper backgrounds that I created using  Halloween papers from BoBunny and Doodlebug. I love to use my scraps to make collage backgrounds for my ATC's.

Hope you enjoyed your treat !

12 Tags of 2014 October Tag

Oh my goodness it is October 31st ...  WHERE did October go ?? I did not wait until the last minute to do this tag ... well not quite ... it has been done for a day and a half but I couldn't seem to find post time. So here I am ... five hours eleven minutes to go...

 This tag was something else...the spider was quite a cool technique, then the texture paste with that spookylicious  Halloween stencil ... I'm not sure which I enjoyed the most. Then the pumpkin... okay so I'm not fond of coloring as it is not my gift ... but that's such a cool technique with the glossy accents... it really is  magical...  I like this !

Tim just seems to think of the coolest effects... picket fence on the back of monocle how cool is that?
Now I must admit I got carried away with the distress stain spray ( actually got distracted too many times ... then tried to make up for lost time) my colors didn't quite come out the way I intended ... BUT man those colors are so cool and the  antique bronze speckle effect ... way cool ( oh and my tweezers are speckled ,spritzer bottle is speckled too )  ! You know I always have funny stories with my tags ... I thought I had lost the mini fasteners so I was down on my hands and knees looking for them ( I thought I  dropped two) on a green hunter green throw rug... I looked for ten minutes ... don't ask why I didn't just get some more out ... you KNOW I have extra Tim stash ... I had to find those two ... I got off of my knees sat down in my chair picked up the tweezers and there they were...Thank God for magnetized Tweezer Bee's ... they had blended in with the tweezers so I missed them !
They are so tiny they should be called "dinky" not mini !
Another awesome tag ... I am amazed at my final project ... Happy Halloween see you next time !
New tag goes up tomorrow wonder what Tim's got in store for us ??

CC3 Challenge # 13

Hi everybody ... Happy Tuesday! Yes... Tuesday... I'm posting 3 days, 5 hours and 33 minutes to go... can you believe it ??
Well ...  I'm glad you've returned to share in my journey. I've been telling EVERYBODY about the Challenges . Lindaledbetter and the Curiosity Crew http://lindaledbetter.com/2014/10/compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-13.html have done such an amazing job keeping us "engaged" in this Challenge. At every challenge they just seem to take us to another level. I love that the Curiosity Crew shares their work... it not only inspires us but you get to see a diversity of the use of Tim Holtz product. I like that not only are we going through his book A Compendium of Curiosities III ( you can still get one by the way ) and learning techniques and use of product; we get to see other Designers use the techniques and product as well. That's exciting  to me. It's also exciting that  the Curiosity Crew has a  Curiosity Choice Award; they actually check out our work... I don't know about you but that's pretty exciting to me... to have Designers SEE MY WORK !  If that's not enough should you be that lucky recipient ... you get goodies from Tim and Mario ( they sent goodies to Linda for these challenges ). Then we have sponsors ;  this challenge is sponsored by my friends at http://www.inspirationemporium.com/ ... if you are the winner you get a $50 shopping spree WooHoo ... who doesn't like to shop?

I really think you wanna come join us... so go to the link above check out all the rules and guidelines, order your book , and I'll look for your challenge project okay?!

This week Challenge 13 is  WORN COVER p. 35 It's not a technique challenge so we have a little more liberty in sharing with you. I gotta tell you I bought a cover ( actually two) a year ago thinking I would use it ... I saw one done at CHA and thought I need  to do one of those ... you think it got done? NO !! Okay so I'm very happy about this challenge ... I'm going to get it done. At the Carson Stamp Show I saw that Tim used worn cover to store his tags ( 12 Tags of 2014)... BINGO ... my tags will have a home ! So I've done my first worn cover to house my 2013 Tags. It was so much fun... I'll be sharing quite a few photos.

 Above is the front below is the back.  And the next one is view of embellishments.

I started my worn cover by using old paper and antique linen distressing inks over front and back cover. Oh I forgot to tell you I'm using the Diary Worn Cover.

Look at that color blend is that not cool ?  I used wild honey, mustard seed, crushed olive,
dried marigold distressing inks... I did it in sections using a blending tool then spritzing with water, drying with heat tool until I got the blend I wanted.

On the inside I used my stencils and various colors of distressing inks ( I love the stencils); using  harlequin, doily, burlap and speckles . Then I used various  stamps from the ultimate grunge stamp set in various colors... it's looking yummy now !!

 Then I used  other stamps to add sentiment inside and out ... I had way too much fun. Side note: decide all that you want to do BEFORE you put the rings in... lol ,  I thought I was finished then I got great ideas (didn't want to take it apart)!  Then I added remnant rubs ... I so LOVE remnant rubs they are so easy to use on the worn cover ... goes on so smooth... I'm feeling like a REAL artist now... loving the experience! Check out my bird on the spin ... so cool !

 My tags have a home... I'm pleased! I know this was a long post but I had a NEED to show off what I did ( just a little pleased with myself ... my first worn cover ). I'll be doing #2 for my 2014 Tags very soon ... can't wait to come up with the décor !!

Okay ... don't forget to go visit the Curiosity Crew's Blogs... show them some love ! Grab a cup of coffee and check out the Curiosity community's work as well... I tell you these people are CREATIVE !  See you later ... it's Tuesday gotta go to rehearsal !